Mike McFadden on Immigration

Secure the borders, then conditional path to citizenship

On immigration, McFadden said it is clear that there must be a solution that involves securing the borders & suggested he was open to looking at some kind of path to citizenship, with conditions.

He spoke admiringly of the work Sens. Bob Corker (R,TN)
and John Hoeven (R, ND) on immigration. "There is a group of senators that have led, taken a lot of arrows for leading, but they have led. They've come forward with a bill that is not perfect but they acknowledge that we have to address this," he said.

Source: Star-Tribune on 2014 Minnesota Senate race
, Oct 28, 2013

Secure the borders & then find way to grant citizenship

On immigration, McFadden said any changes to immigration law would have to start with securing US borders, but said he isn't opposed to finding a way for millions of immigrants now here illegally to obtain citizenship.

"As Republicans, we need to get our arms around this," McFadden said.
He said he wants to see "outreach to the Hispanic community, because if they're not already Republicans they have the potential to be great Republicans because they have strong family values,
they're entrepreneurial, they work hard, they're industrious. We need to appeal to them."

Status quo is not acceptable; we need to find a solution

Q: Would you have supported the Senate immigration bill?

A: First of all, the status quo is not acceptable, having 11 million illegal immigrants in this country is de facto amnesty, and that doesn't work, so we need to find a solution.
I applaud members of the Senate for trying to find that solution. The solution needs to begin with securing the borders, it needs to stop further illegal immigration, so that's my first principle. My second principle is:
We need something that addresses the 21st century and our economic needs in this country. The fact that we're educating PhDs in math and hard sciences and not
allowing them to stay in this country when they're needed, does not make economic sense. We need to address that. I'm still reviewing the Senate bill. I look forward to seeing what comes out of the House.